Reading, studying, contemplating, visiting: by welcoming all audiences to this iconic venue in Paris’ historic centre, which was long reserved for researchers, the BnF is upholding one of its chief purposes – to bring knowledge and culture within everyone’s reach. Readers, researchers, visitors and anyone simply wishing to pop in will be able to enjoy a cultural offering that has been completely renewed, revealing the wealth and diversity of the BnF’s collections, first formed back in the Middle Ages by the Kings of France and developed continuously ever since.
Free of charge and completely at their leisure, the general public will be able to access the Oval Room, an architectural masterpiece that has been fully restored and which now serves as both a reading room and enlightening visitor attraction. The BnF’s new 1,200 sq.m. museum will showcase nearly 900 pieces – from antiquity through to the present day – representing the encyclopaedic breadth of the BnF’s collections.
Cabinet précieux of the National Library of France © Guicciardini & Magni architetti, 2019
The site’s opening will be celebrated over the weekend of 17-18 September 2022 with free events.
Press release (in French): https://www.bnf.fr/sites/default/files/2022-04/CP_Ouverture_Richelieu.pdf
Press release (in English): https://www.bnf.fr/sites/default/files/2022-05/CP_Richelieu_en.pdf